


… A Stranger I Go Hence

by MalkMcJorma



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalkMcJorma/pseuds/MalkMcJorma
Summary: An "AU of an AU" story in the "Sunray" universe. The prelude and aftermath of the battle with Glory when an all but discarded dark Slayer unbidden saves the day.
Relationships: Faith Lehane/Original Male Character, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Faith joined the Mayor, was in a coma and went to prison. Even with Rowan present, everything went pretty much as canon up to "The Gift". This is something I've been writing as a parallel project to the main "Sunray" storyline to get to know the characters a little better.
> 
> This is a work in progress, so the already posted chapters may be edited without notice.

_A stranger I arrived here, a stranger I go hence._

_Maytime was good to me with many a bunch of flowers._

_The girl spoke of love, her mother even of marriage._

_Now the world is dismal, the path veiled in snow._

– Franz Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911, Poetry by Wilhelm Müller

* * *

Faith had saved the world, sacrificing herself in the process, and no-one seemed to care. Despite everything, Rowan had been totally astounded and deeply shaken when the Scooby gang returned to their day-to-day business practically the next day after LaMorte. They didn’t seem to care at all that, after having heard about their desperate situation with Glory, Faith had broken out of prison, made her way to the site of the Portal on her own and, after nearly dying in the hands of Glory, closed the Hell God’s portal through her own sacrifice.

It was as if Faith had never been there at all. But, to give the Scoobies small credit, they had had the decency not to congratulate themselves for their success.

His own personal guilt weighed heavily on Rowan’s mind. He had been careless and, through his carelessness, lost another Companion. He had held back, still hesitant to tap on his powers, even against such an opponent as Glory. His moment of hesitation had cost him dearly. Glory had thrown him off the tower like a rag doll, and only Tara’s timely intervention had saved him. He had been too slow in getting himself back together with the multitude of broken bones and was only able to watch helplessly as Faith leaped from the tower and vanished along with Glory’s portal.

Afterwards Buffy had mentioned in passing that she could still feel their Slayer connection but very, very faintly. That meant she was still alive, right? Probably safe and sound somewhere nice as well, which was more than she deserved. That seemed to be the consensus; even Rupert seemed to be indifferent as to the dark Slayer’s current circumstances. Rowan didn’t believe for a second that everything was alright with her.

The others seemed genuinely perplexed by his “unhealthy obsession” when, with them, things were just nice and dandy, thank you very much. Hadn’t Faith betrayed him just as thoroughly as the rest of them? More even, having betrayed his personal trust.

And so, the estrangement and separation that had slowly been growing between them, suddenly split wide open and became, in basically every respect, unrepairable. As a result, Rowan had practically isolated himself in the mansion researching parallel dimensions and domains of the lower realm; drawing information from books, the internet and from the vast amount of knowledge and lore The Hegemon had bestowed him with. He had also been in constant contact with Gwen in London, confiding in Faith’s former Watcher and his occasional lover and getting relief from her unwavering support of him. Gwen had offered to fly to Sunnydale to help him with his research, but he vetoed the idea. Having an inside contact with the Council was far more valuable than another pair of eyes reading dusty tomes of lore.

* * *

The Scoobies’ notion that his obsession with Faith was unhealthy had its roots back in the time when Faith had been working for the Mayor. Even back then, despite everything, Rowan had been the one to always give the rogue Slayer the benefit of the doubt. In the eyes of the Scoobies his already shaky credibility had been totally lost when Faith attempted to poison Angel.

They had fought together to defeat the Mayor, but it was strained. None of them had been too sorry to see him leave for England soon after. None of them had been too enthusiastic to see him back almost a year later. He had missed the Initiative and Adam “campaign” which became the new bonding platform for the group. He was in all effects demoted to an outsider.

They didn’t forget who and what he was, but Adam had given them a new baseline for measuring authority and power. He could have re-established his position and status through power, but he decided to keep that hidden still. He had slowly come to the conclusion that the original group of Scoobies were still quite shallow in their beliefs and even Buffy, a Slayer, was not the beacon of goodness around which the forces fighting against The Hegemon and other minions of Darkness would gather.

Then there had been Glory who showed them what _real_ power was. Despite their general dislike of him, they had still expected him to save the day. And when he didn’t, instead having had his proverbial arse handed back to him on a platter by the Hell God, it had been easy to dismiss both him and Faith’s sacrifice as just flukes.

Eventually the Scoobies, for the most part, ceased all contacts with him. Buffy had her hands full with college, her part-time work at the DMP and taking care of Dawn. Willow was delving deep into the higher mysteries and she had Tara to rely on. Xander and Anya spent all their time either planning for their upcoming wedding or supervising the construction of their new house. Giles had decided to take a prolonged vacation in England now that there didn’t seem to be any new major apocalyptic events in the immediate future. He had also left the day-to-day managing of the Magic Box to Anya.

So, Rowan let himself fade to the background. He had no concept of what “immortality” meant. He just knew that he couldn’t cease to be through age or sickness. As a result, he could out-wait anything and everything. But it was the thought of Faith being trapped in some hellish domain in the Lower realm that prevented him from detaching himself totally from time and... just walking away from it all.

* * *

His first avenue of research had started from the assumption that Faith was indeed dead, and Buffy’s feeling was just an echo. He didn’t want to believe that, but he had to take the distasteful idea into account. When no word of a new Slayer having been activated reached his ears through Gwen, he quickly discarded this idea; very much to his relief.

He had then spent a week contemplating on the “musical Slayers” theory. The postulation was that perhaps an infinite number of Faiths had jumped from the tower in parallel dimensions and ended up in a dimension different from their own. But since they had not “received” a Faith, their “own” or any other, for that matter, he had discarded the theory for lack of verifiable proof.

That left him with only one other possibility. Instead of Glory having made her way home through the portal, Faith had, and was now stuck in the Hell God’s former domain.

 _The_ Slayer was missing, presumed... missing. And then there was the slight matter of the prophecy. Had it already been fulfilled with Faith not dead but stuck for eternity in some timeless dimension? She would remain the host for the Slayer spirit which had no way of getting free ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

The Scoobies didn’t know that Rowan had visited Faith regularly in prison after his return from England.

On his first visit Faith had flat out told him not to fucking come back, ever. She had put the phone down after that and walked away. He had come back a week later fully expecting Faith to have specifically revoked his visiting permit. When that was not the case, he had been prepared for the Slayer not to come to meet him at all. She did, but she had just sat there, without picking up the phone, until the time ran out.

On his third visit, two weeks later, Faith had demanded what he wanted of her, pouring scathing abuse at him through the phone line. He had just sat there with the phone to his ear without saying anything.

He had returned two weeks after that and then two weeks after that.

That had gone on for two more months. Each time Faith had showed up and stayed for the whole duration of the visit despite her threats to never show up again.

After five months they had met for the first time in a regular visiting room.

* * *

_Flashback_

Rowan stood up from his chair when the guard escorted Faith to the visiting room. She strutted to the table he had occupied and unceremoniously plopped down in the chair opposite him.

“Ya look pretty stupid doing that. I’m not worth of such courtesies,” Faith said with a sneer.

“Yes, you are,” Rowan said and sat down.

“Still so damn cool, ain’t ya?” Faith snorted. “Whaddya want from me?”

“What do you think, Faith?”

“Didn’t come here to play twenty questions but I’d say you’re cruising for a piece of my tight little ass since you never got to claim it back then.” This statement was accompanied by the familiar waggle of her eyebrows.

“You played your cards wrong, Slayer,” Rowan reminded her.

“Oh, fuck you,” Faith spat out. “Everything was hunky-dory until B put me in a coma, and you and the Bitcher offed the Boss with that magic mitten.” She had gotten the gory details of the Graduation Day massacre from Angel.

“You really believe that, still?” Rowan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He lo... cared about me,” Faith said, flinching inside for her slip. “He said he’d come back for me after the Ascension was finalized.”

“And you swallowed that whole?” Rowan asked, tilting his head to the side a little. “I could have told you that turning into a demon does funny things to one’s priorities. Besides, I trusted you and you broke your promise to me. Why would you have expected anything less from him?”

“He made me an offer I just couldn’t refuse,” Faith said leaning back in her chair and interlacing her fingers behind her head. “Didn’t see you upping the ante.”

“So, it was all about opportunity?” Rowan mused. “I can sort of understand that. Was there more than just jealousy involved?”

“Hey, better back the fuck off right now if you know what’s fucking good for you,” Faith growled threateningly but Rowan’s keen hearing picked up the lack of genuine hostility in her tone. “I’ll ask again and use short words this time. What... do... you... want... from... me?”

Rowan was silent for almost a minute. This was going better than expected. Despite being the Slayer, Faith was still emotionally a young girl, a frightened one at that, and was desperate for acceptance. She had missed that in Sunnydale and then the Mayor had taken full advantage of that craving. It also might seem to an unobservant observer that she wanted to be left alone, but it was clear to Rowan that she hungered for someone to connect with, even one whom she regarded as the enemy. And Rowan was not in the habit of abandoning those who had been his comrades-in-arms, however briefly that had been.

Someone like Buffy might have rushed into things with Faith, thinking that time was of the essence; that everything would have to be solved during the first visit. What they would have invariably failed to understand was that Faith had nothing but time at her disposal. Rowan was well aware of that, being that he himself had all the time in the world available to him. The score so far? Five months of poking at the brunette, piquing her curiosity.

Back in Sunnydale, Faith had been like a firecracker – shooting wildly in all directions, never slowing down so that a solid foundation for a friendship or a relationship could be established. Now, time was out of the equation and... well, their old challenge still remained, unresolved.

He stood up suddenly, surprising Faith.

“I’ll be going now,” he said and turned his back to her.

“Hey, wait! There’s still...,” Faith said in surprise, rising her hand without thinking, as if to stop him.

“I won’t say my visits have been mistakes, they haven’t been,” Rowan interrupted, still facing away from Faith. It was time to show that she didn’t hold all the aces. “But it’s obvious that this isn’t taking us anywhere.”

“So, you too will just abandon me?” Faith said quietly. There was a slight waver in her voice. Despite everything, Rowan had become a part of her basically unchanging routine in the past five months.

Rowan turned back to Faith and sat slowly down. She had to be made to understand that any hand she thought she held would be a losing one if she continued playing in this fashion. “It’s not me who’s abandoning you; it’s you who have abandoned _everyone_ , Faith. If you _want_ me to come back, I will.”

They remained silent until the guard came to escort Faith back to her cell. Just as she was led away from the table, she turned her head around.

“Come back,” she said, looking into Rowan’s eyes.

* * *

Rowan came back exactly two weeks later. To his surprise his escort took a totally different route than during all his previous visits. He was led through a long, dim corridor to a small, open yard surrounded by high walls with barb-wire on top. Against the back wall stood two small homely-looking cabins.

Rowan looked at the guard with a raised eyebrow.

“Paying a debt to Lehane here,” the guard muttered. “Just go to number one and wait.”

A conjugal cabin. That offered so many possibilities; most of them for things to take a steep downward spiral. But he had been trained to take advantage of abruptly changing scenarios and he was not one to back down from a challenge.

The cabin was clean and the double-bed which dominated the space had fresh-smelling linen spread on it. On the bed-side table was a large cardboard box full of condom packs. He was examining one of them when there was a chuckle from behind him.

“Playing with yourself?” Faith asked in an amused voice.

Rowan put the pack back to the box and turned around to face the Slayer. He let his eyes wander around the cabin.

“Your doing?” he asked.

Faith came inside the cabin and locked the door behind her. Then, without looking at him, she sat down at the foot of the bed. “Charlie owed me one,” she shrugged.

They remained silent for a while and Rowan could see that Faith was struggling inside with some conflicting emotions. She was fidgeting on her seat and kept fingering the sleeve of her blue jump suit. He didn’t react when Faith suddenly stood up and approached him. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss him.

“What are you doing?” Rowan asked her evenly.

“Thanking you,” Faith whispered back.

Suddenly Faith was staggering backwards until her knees hit the side of the bed and she fell on her back on the mattress. Rowan and pushed her, hard.

“You...,” she snarled but then fell silent. A steely “shut up”, said in a voice that didn’t consider disobeying an option, had left her with her mouth hanging open.

“Do you take me for a hormone-driven fool like all your ‘get some, get gone’ one-night stands, or like poor Xander? How transparent can you possibly be?” Rowan continued in his trained command voice holding the Slayers gaze with his own. “Wake up, Faith, and get off that high horse you seem to be riding!”

Then Rowan allowed his voice to soften again. “I keep coming here for you, Faith, not for a piece of your arse, however perfect it is. Besides, if it ever comes to that between us, it won’t be about thanking or apologizing and definitely not about ‘getting some’.”

He left that hanging in the air for a second before continuing, once again in a harsher voice. “Think about it, Faith. ‘Get some, get gone’? You’re in prison. That could only end with you... well attempting to kick me out of bed. And if you think I’d submit to that, well, you’ve got another thing coming, Slayer.”

Rowan stayed silent for a few seconds waiting for a response from Faith. Receiving nothing, he continued, relentlessly.

“And afterwards; would you regard me as just another notch on your bed post? Am I just another drooling college boy to you who’d desperately come back to you for a romp in the sheets and then leave with his tail between his legs once you have used and abused him to your satisfaction? Is that how you see this happening? Nothing to comment? Well, I’ll tell you something more. Each time he’d make a promise not to subject himself to that kind of humiliation again, but, as the days pass, the siren song of the low-down tingle would become more and more difficult for him to resist. Then, one day, as he comes back, you’d refuse to see him at all. He goes away frustrated, maybe swallowing what’s still left of his pride. He comes back once or twice more to the same effect and eventually does something irrevocable either to himself or someone close to him.”

Faith hadn’t moved from where she was lying splayed on the bed. She still couldn’t make herself move when two teardrops formed on the outside corners of her eyes and made a slow descent to her temples and then became lost in her brown curls.

She had taken counselling in prison, as mandated in her sentencing. She had mouthed her pieces, given some expected answers but never allowed anything to escape from behind the walls she had constructed. Those sessions had been walks in the park. She had also received a fair bit of verbal abuse in her past, but nothing close to this. Rowan had been just plain brutal, his words like a scalpel. The worst part: he hadn’t been too far from the truth.

The mattress tilted beside Faith; Rowan had come to sit beside her. She kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling; the unfamiliar feeling of shame was almost unbearable. She had never been turned down in her life. Once she had set her course to ‘get some’, she had always got some.

“What you need first and foremost, Faith, is a friend,” Rowan said gently. “Someone to be there for you, just because you’re you. Not because they want something from you or out of you.”

“I don’t do friends,” Faith muttered.

“We never got there before things went crazy,” Rowan said. “Friends share, so I’ll let you in on a little titbit. Things between me and the Scoobies are not all that friendly anymore.”

“What?” Faith asked incredulously and sat up. Rowan was sitting less than a foot away from her. “Why?”

“It’s not important,” Rowan shrugged, knowing that Faith was not ready for the truth yet. “But the thing is, I don’t have too many real friends in this time and place, and, besides Mike, you were the first acquaintance I made in Sunnydale.”

“Yeah, I remember you and him making quite a show in the school yard,” Faith said sounding amused. “Are you still... ahem... stroking each other’s egos?”

“He was killed by vampires on Graduation Day,” Rowan said simply.

A knock on the door interrupted whatever Faith was about the say to that. “Finish whatever you’re doing in there. Time’s up,” a gruff voice announced outside.

“Will you...?” Faith started as Rowan rose up from the bed.

“I’ll be back,” Rowan said over his shoulder as he exited the cabin.

Immediately after having been escorted back inside the prison proper, Faith filled a new application for the cabin; same time two weeks hence. Her hand shook a bit as she crossed the square with “fiancé” written next to it in the section asking about the inmate’s relationship with the visitor.

That night Faith kept repeating in her mind something Rowan had said. “ _If it ever comes to that between us, it won’t be about thanking or apologizing_.” These words helped wake up three emotions that had lain dormant inside her for ages: respect, patience and anticipation. But the last coherent thought she had before falling to sleep was, ‘ _he really complimented me on my ass_ ’. Of course, she had been told many times what a great, tight package her ass was, but Rowan had been the first one to say it sincerely.

Two days later she told her therapist that, for as long as she could remember, she has had trust issues and problems with committing herself to lasting relationships.

_End Flashback_


	3. Chapter 3

Not all the Scoobies had distanced themselves from Rowan, though. Tara visited him regularly, something that had initially caused friction between her and Willow. Rowan had tried to suggest that, for the sake of her and Willow’s relationship, maybe Tara too should stay away from him. The formerly shy Witch had countered that with if Willow couldn’t handle her visiting a friend, then, maybe, she wasn’t the girlfriend she had expected the redhead to be.

Rowan couldn’t really care less about Willow’s insecurities regarding her sexuality or her relationship with Tara, but he wanted to avoid causing the sweet and gentle blonde any undue stress.

He and Tara had connected on some deep level right after they practically collided with each other at the UC Sunnydale campus. He had ceased muting his aura ever since his presence in Sunnydale became common knowledge in the “underworld” after the fight with the Mayor. He had also started wearing his glamour less and less, instead relying on a trusty pair of Ray-Ban Aviators and a bandana to hide his most prominent features when appearing in public. His features still drew some attention to him but the overall level of denial permeating the area around the Hellmouth made it easily tolerable.

* * *

_Flashback_

The Wicca group meeting was nearing its end and Tara was bored out of her gourd. Her watch told her that the only item in the agenda they appeared to have time for today seemed to be the upcoming bake sale. She was drifting in and out of focus and could actually see flashes of her fellow Wiccans’ auras before shaking her head and getting back to focus. After this had happened a few times, she just let herself stay in that meditative state and allowed herself to really see the auras around her. She never focused long enough on a single one for it to turn invasive; she just quietly enjoyed the tranquil show of inner lights around her.

Her breath caught in her throat and she lost her serenity as the steady candleflames around her were suddenly eclipsed by a bonfire as someone... different exited the building through the door beside the leisure area they were currently occupying. She mumbled an excuse and rushed out of the door to the quad. There were so many students coming and going that it was impossible to know who she had followed outside. She breathed slowly in and out to calm herself and then attempted to get back to the state she had occupied earlier. She didn’t even have to let herself fully unfocus before a single person in the quad suddenly shone like a star among the dark and dull shapes moving around the area. Focusing her normal vision on the receding person, who appeared to have a bandana tied around his head, she started following him at a brisk pace.

To Tara’s surprise the person made his way to Stevenson Hall. She had definitely not seen him before, so he had to be just visiting someone. Not wishing to lose her prey inside the building, Tara started running. She rushed through the front doors ten to fifteen seconds after the bandana-headed someone and quickly looked around in the entrance hall. She cursed under her breath when she didn’t see anyone matching that description anywhere. Having no other clear course of action, she decided to head for her own dorm room seeing that as likely a course of action as any other. Running up the stairs to the second floor she rounded a corner at full speed and almost collided with a... boy who was leaning his shoulder against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed just around the corner. The boy was wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses and a bandana around his head which partly covered his ears.

Tara slipped on the carpet and fell unceremoniously on her butt in front of the one she had been following. He immediately crouched down in front of her and held out his hand. “I’m sorry. Please, let me help you,” a soft voice said.

Rowan had meant to confront the one following him but not in this manner. He could see the embarrassment on the blonde girl’s face as she tried to gather the remains of her dignity. Something about the girl made him _look_ closer, and he immediately realized she was a Witch, and a very powerful at that; perhaps even on-par with Willow.

Tara looked curiously at the young male standing in front of him. Even though being into girls herself, she couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that the... boy was incredibly handsome with his astoundingly symmetrical facial features, smooth brown skin and straight and shiny raven-black hair.

They had been alone in the corridor for the whole duration of their initial encounter but suddenly Tara could hear voices approaching them from both the stairs and from the other end of the corridor. Her dorm room was just two doors further along the corridor. Acting on instinct she rushed past the boy, fumbled for her keys, opened the door and tried her best to indicate that he should get inside. Even in a hurry she instinctively refrained from vocally inviting anyone to a place that was hers.

* * *

Inside her room Tara leaned against the door and drew several deep breaths. Her... guest was leaning against the vanity apparently totally at ease. It was impossible to say which way he was looking from behind the dark glasses he was wearing. And Tara didn’t know what to say. ‘ _Hi, did you know that your aura shines a couple of magnitudes brighter than anyone else’s?_ ’ wasn’t really an icebreaker.

“Do you have light-sensitive eyes?” Tara blurted out instead and pursed her lips together with a grimace. Nice. Very confident. On the bright side, she didn’t stutter.

“Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know?” the boy asked softly, looking like he was trying his best not to laugh.

Tara had to focus to keep herself from fidgeting and her hands away from the hem of her blouse.

“I can see auras around people,” she said in a rush. “Do you know what an aura is?” She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘ _If he laughs at me, I’ll..._ ’

“I can see from yours that you’re a Witch,” she heard the boy answer.

Opening her eyes wide and narrowing them immediately afterwards, Tara stepped away from the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and drew herself to her full height.

“Take off your glasses,” she said, hoping to sound determined.

“Well! A Witch with steel in her spine,” he said, sounding amused. “No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll come and take them off you,” Tara challenged.

“Is that a fact?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead, then.”

Tara hadn’t really expected her challenge to be met so she clenched and unclenched her hands reflexively in indecision. The boy lowered his arms to his side and showed his bare hands to her.

With a firm resolve Tara took the few steps to bring her within touching distance. Despite the direction her door swung, she had to admit to herself that the situation was really bordering on erotic. The boy was not feminine in appearance by any means, neither was he overly masculine. He might have had a hint of David Bowie -like androgyny here and there but, overall, he seemed to belong to a category distinctly his own.

Waiting for a few seconds for a denial Tara reached out with both hands and carefully and gently pulled the Ray-Bans away from his face.

_End Flashback_


	4. Chapter 4

“Have you found anything about the variations in pulsing frequency?” Tara asked from the couch.

Rowan was sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the couch. He had a large tome propped against his raised-up knees.

“No. None of the chapters about portals, trans- or inter-dimensional, make any mention about having to pay attention to the frequency. I was also recalling what Aryane once said about the tuning of the Seals. It seems that they just fell naturally into a harmonic scale.”

“What about rotation?” Tara asked.

“The books don’t say, and I didn’t pay enough attention to remember whether the orb rotated about any of its axes. What about you?”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Tara said with an apologetic grimace. “It took all our concentration to just attempt to keep it from opening.”

“That leaves just the colour charge.”

“Which we are unable to agree on,” Tara said. “You said it was golden-hued and to me it looked like rose-quartz.”

“Maybe it was both and only Glory could see it for what it really was.”

“So, another dead-end, then?”

“Seems to be. It’s getting late anyway. You should go before Willow decides to level this place just to teach me a lesson.”

“Be nice, Rowan,” Tara said playfully and smacked him upside the head.

“Ouch! Now you really should go. I don’t want to get between Willow and her nightly dose of butch Tara.”

“Stop it before I go butch on you,” Tara laughed and started gathering her notes in her backpack.

Rowan escorted Tara to the street.

“Good night, Miss Maclay,” he said and touched his lips with his fingertips.

“Night, sweetie,” Tara answered and did the same.

They touched the tips of their fingers briefly together before Rowan returned back to the mansion and Tara started the walk back to the UC Sunnydale campus.

* * *

_Flashback_

On his next visit two weeks later, Rowan wasn’t too surprised when he was escorted to the yard with the conjugal cabins. This time, however, Faith was already waiting for him inside, sitting on the bed. The genuinely glad and relieved smile Faith gave him as he stepped inside could have melted an iceberg.

“Thought I wouldn’t show up?” Rowan asked as he locked the cabin door behind him.

“Not really,” Faith said honestly. “Was just remembering something ‘bout bars and bathrooms.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s a stupid thing. When you’re hitting on someone in a bar, the first bathroom break is the most crucial one. See, that gives both of you time to think for the first time. If you wait and the one who went comes back, or the other way around, you have a real chance. Seeing you come through that door...” Faith suddenly fell silent pursing her lips together.

“How does it feel like, waiting for the other to come back?” Rowan asked knowing that this discussion was not really about bars.

“Those are pretty long fucking minutes,” Faith answered. “And the mind does funny things within those ticking moments.”

It wasn’t hard to replace “minutes” with “days” in what Faith said.

“I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that; make you think I’ve abandoned you. If I can’t make it for some reason or another, I will get word to you immediately.”

“I guess I knew that already, but I have these...,” Faith started and then drew a breath. “... issues with... being left alone and... something she, my therapist, said... abandonment anxiety.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Rowan said sincerely. “But even without knowing that, I wouldn’t leave you hanging.”

Faith was quiet for a good part of a minute. The thing she had in her mind was equally balanced between the desire and fear to either get it out or leave it unsaid. She knew with her whole being that her decision might be one of the most important ones she had ever made – perhaps on-par with her decision to join the Mayor’s side.

The balance tipped.

“So, you mentioned something about friends last time,” she said quietly, talking basically to her knees. “I could really use one.”

The silence following her almost plea stretched and stretched. After a minute Faith sighed deeply and started to get back to her feet. She kept her eyes lowered and blinked back the moisture in them that threatened to make her vision blurry.

A vibrant and melodious voice she remembered from the past made her stop.

“I could really use one, too.”

Faith bit back a sob and kept her eyes lowered.

“Do friends hug?” she asked quietly, feeling her pulse quicken but this time without all the blood rushing directly south.

“I don’t know about others but I’m in the habit of hugging my friends.”

Then Faith slowly raised her head and let herself meet the eyes that had long ago made her think of butterflies.

Strong arms around her waist, her head against a warm shoulder. They stayed like that, not moving, until a knock at the door announced the end of their time together. To Faith it felt that only a few minutes had passed since she was taken into that comforting embrace.

* * *

Two weeks later they were sitting side by side outside the cabin, leaning against it.

“Listen, I’m sorry about what happened with our first time here,” Faith said twirling a blade of grass in her fingers. “I’ve really been doing some thinking and... shit... I’m just really fucking glad that you did what you did.”

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind,” Rowan answered. “I didn’t enjoy doing that, believe me.”

“My therapist said something to that effect as well.”

“You’ve been discussing us?”

“Yeah. I just... couldn’t keep it all inside anymore. It wasn’t a full disclosure about Mayors turning into demons but still some deep fucking shit. I told her that I had cheated on someone with his arch-nemesis, betrayed his trust and basically fucked him over nine ways till Tuesday, and that this someone keeps coming back to visit me even though I spent the first three or four visits either telling him to stay the fuck way from me or ignoring him or shovelling shit on him. Then I told her what you did after I tried to... you know.”

“And what did she tell you?”

“She told me to start simple. Find ways to make up for the small, recent stuff and work slowly back to the bigger stuff. And she said... she said that this someone is obviously a genuinely good person.”

“I’m not ready to give you a full absolution any time soon, just in case you were wondering; flattery or no flattery,” Rowan said and playfully nudged Faith’s side.

Faith had to grin at that. “Didn’t think you were.”

After a few minutes of comfortable silence Rowan stood up and held out his hand to Faith. “Let’s walk around the yard a bit and talk some more.”

Faith took Rowan’s hand and used it to pull herself to her feet. “What about?” she asked as they started circling the small yard. Without really being aware of it, Faith interlaced her fingers with Rowan’s.

“My name is A’Rowane Than’Shea. I was born in what is today’s New Zealand some 26500 years ago, but I’ve spent most of that time in a timeless Void. My ancestors were the Old Ones who once ruled this world and almost destroyed it battling for dominance. I was the leader of an army called the Companions of Light who eventually sealed the gateways known as Hellmouths. I was trained from an early age...”

“My name is Faith Bridget Lehane. I was born in Boston on the 14th of December 1981. My mother was a drunk and a junkie and I never knew my father. For as long as I can remember I’ve been basically alone. My mother used to leave me by myself since I was very little when she went to get herself a fix or a man or both. One of her boyfriends tried to rape me when I was nine...”

_End Flashback_


	5. Chapter 5

“Something’s bothering you,” Tara said as she and Rowan were lazily walking along a gravel path in the park. She checked her watch. It would be an hour until Willow’s classes ended.

“A couple of things,” Rowan answered and re-adjusted his Ray-Bans. “The first one is the portal. There’s no way we can replicate and reverse it, even with the full Coven forming a Grand Circle.”

“But with you as the focus...?”

“No. I won’t risk another Selenia, even for her. I’m sure you can see that. Should I risk a hundred people to get her back? No. Should I risk fifty? How about just one? When does a sacrifice become acceptable? If you have a heap of sand and you start taking single grains out of it, when does it cease to be a heap?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve given up?” Tara asked in shock.

“No, never,” Rowan answered with conviction. “Let’s sit down,” he continued, indicating a bench by the path.

“Two days ago, I went by myself to Breaker’s Woods,” Rowan said as they had sat down. Tara nodded and he continued. “Before I left, I approached a... dealer in arcane and mystic stuff and got myself a bag of peyote buttons.”

Tara’s mouth fell open. A mescaline-induced spirit walk was really deep stuff; not to mention it being inherently very dangerous if you got lost. “And?” she asked in a small voice.

“The Seals. Glory’s portal could have conceivably shattered them. Now I’m quite positive that the Orb’s resonance may have left a residue in them; something that could maybe played back. I’m thinking of attempting to tap into the Seals and use this residue to re-tune them slightly so that they would briefly focus on Glory’s domain instead of the Hellmouth.”

“That’s... that’s...” Tara couldn’t find a word to describe the magnitude of what Rowan had just told her. “But the Seals are impenetrable. You told me so yourself.”

“For me, yes. But we still have the Key.”

“Dawn?!” Tara asked incredulously.

“Aurora,” Rowan corrected the witch.

* * *

_Flashback_

“Lehane, a call for you!” one of the guards called her in the gym.

Faith almost dropped the heavy barbell on her chest in surprise. She had never received a call before.

“Who is it?” she asked as she was escorted out of the gym.

“A Mr Shea.”

Faith grinned at that and had to force herself not to start running.

“Yo!” she said to the line with a wide smile on her face.

“ _Faith?_ ” she heard Rowan’s voice on the other end.

“Yeah, it’s me, Bright Eyes. ‘Sup?”

She could hear Rowan’s sigh and immediately her heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously.

“ _I won’t be able to come next week._ ”

Faith was surprised. That wasn’t so bad. He had told her in advance like he had promised.

“ _Faith. Buffy’s mother, Joyce. She’s dead. The funeral..._ ”

The rest of Rowan’s words were drowned by her shock. Mrs S, dead? No, she couldn’t be! She had been one of only a few people in Sunnydale who had always treated her decently, invited her to dinner... to spend the one memorable Christmas with them.

“H-h-how?” she managed to stammer.

“ _Things are quite chaotic here in Sunnydale at the moment, Faith. I have tried to keep that from you. You have enough on your own plate without me adding to it. For that, I’m sorry._ ”

“Tell me,” Faith said calmly and evenly. There was no anger, no pleading, no hurt in her voice.

“ _There’s a deranged Hell God loose here. She is extremely powerful and totally insane; in a calm and clinical way. This God, Glory, wants to get back to her own domain and is willing to have the world destroyed in order to get what she wants. She is searching for a... Key to open a portal to her home. This Key, if used the way Glory is planning to, will lay down all the barriers between this and the various domains of the lower realm, the Seals notwithstanding, in effect ending this reality. And, believe me, once she gets home, getting the portal closed behind her won’t be her first priority, even if she could do it in the first place. Glory thinks Buffy is keeping the Key hidden from her. First, she almost rendered Tara, Willow’s girlfriend, insane trying to get the information out of her brain. Then she appeared in Buffy’s home and... Faith, she killed Joyce as a demonstration to Buffy of what she is willing to do if the Key is not returned to her._ ”

The line stayed quiet for a long time as Faith tried to digest this unbelievable story.

“ _Faith? Can I trust you?_ ” Rowan’s quiet voice shook her out of her shock.

Faith had to take support from the wall to keep herself from collapsing. She was suddenly covered with cold sweat. He was asking for her trust again, giving her a second chance.

“You... you shouldn’t. I mean, what can I say. My word ain’t worth shit; you of all people should know that.”

“ _Thank you, Faith,_ ” came the quiet response from the line.

“Didn’t you hear...?” Faith asked feeling totally lost.

“ _I heard and I was listening to more than just your words. Now I know._ ”

“Know what?”

“ _Faith,”_ Rowan interrupted her. Then it sounded like two different voices were speaking in her ear simultaneously. One kept droning about normal and meaningless, everyday stuff but the other continued without pause. _“The Key is currently being kept under a... blanket, or a veil, of inconspicuousness. Glory has come across the Key a few times but hasn’t recognized it for what it is. The Scoobies think I’m pretty useless nowadays as I’m keeping out of the way when things occasionally get physical between them and Glory. In case something... unforeseen happens, I believe it’s best that information about the Key should also be kept safe somewhere else outside Sunnydale._ ”

“Surely you don’t mean...?”

“ _Just a sec, Faith. There’s still some interference on the line,_ ” Rowan cut her off abruptly. “ _Dawnie says hi. She says she’s really sorry about that one time when she picked the lock to your room and burst in when you were... you know._ ”

“What?” Faith asked totally mystified. She felt she had lost the thread of this discussion a few reels ago.

Then the two voices once again coalesced into one. “ _I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. Be safe... Sunray._ ”

The line went dead.

* * *

_Sunray_. It was as if that single word had opened a floodgate inside Faith’s mind. As she lay on her bunk that night, memories from more than two years ago started flashing in her mind.

Her birthday party; they had played “Never have I ever” over drinks Rowan had brought. She had been totally mesmerized hearing him first sing “Unchained Melody”, and then “Up Where We Belong” with her. Then, finally, he had sung the almost hauntingly beautiful song about the Last Ray of Sunshine and the goblin.

Christmas Eve, the day after the party. She had worn the tightest pair of sweat pants she could find in B’s closet and a matching tee-shirt. They had watched Die Hard together under Joyce’s happy pampering of them. There had been snow and ice and Buffy on skates. Rowan had left afterwards but the rest of the Eve and the Christmas Day with Buffy and Joyce had been the closest to a real family holiday that she had ever known.

The alley and Allan Finch. Rowan had given her a magnificent display on how to turn an unfortunate event into one’s advantage. But she had been weak. She had been measured and found wanting. She had fallen so easily under the Boss’s spell which had promised her wealth and power. Had it been because of jealousy? If so, of whom? Buffy had had a family; a loving mother and a terror of a little sister. She had been living in a comfortable house in luxury and still had the audacity to complain how difficult her life was. Buffy’s friends had tried to be friendly with Faith, but it had been clear to her from the get-go that it was just by extension. Without B, none of them would have given her the time of day, the slutty and cleavagey white-trash Slayer.

And then Rowan. Initially an outsider just like Faith, but such a natural with people that they had all welcomed him with open arms. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was... well he really _was_ out of this world, but did he have to look that as well?

It had been a rare occasion that Faith fancied someone from afar; if she wanted someone, she had taken and had them. But not those two – Buffy and Rowan. She had had a crush on B but quite soon realized that her feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated; her sister Slayer was straighter than an arrow. As it came to Rowan, she had known basically from the start that he couldn’t be subjected to her normal “want, take, have” slash “get some, get gone” treatment. What happens when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object? Faith had refrained from trying to find out until her moment of weakness on their first conjugal get-together. Then, she had gotten her answer.

But as a result, Faith, the object of so many people’s wet dreams had found one of her own. And with that, she drifted into one.

* * *

_“What are you doing?” Rowan asks her evenly._

_“Thanking you,” Faith whispers back._

_“That’s not why I come to see you,” Rowan says softly as Faith’s lips brush over his like a feather._

_“Why not enjoy the benefits as well?” Faith purrs and nibbles Rowan’s lower lip._

_“You all but threw yourself at me back then,” Rowan says leaning in to kiss her properly, but she backs away playfully. “Why didn’t you ever come to me with real intentions? Things could have taken a totally different course.”_

_“Let’s just say that I wanted to retain the illusion,” Faith smiles mysteriously and allows Rowan’s lips to briefly touch hers before she turns her face away again._

_“I see,” Rowan answers and cups her chin, turning her head around to face him again. “Batting average. You kept imagining that you could have me anytime you wanted; yet you knew that I would never submit to you. You who takes pride in never letting anyone dominate you.”_

_Faith flicks her tongue out from between her lips like a snake and brushes it quickly across the corner of his mouth “You know, (lick) at this point (lick) I’m usually not (lick) hearing coherent words (lick) from over there anymore. This is a major turn on. Is your tongue good for anything else except words of wisdom?”_

_“You know the answer to that, Faith,” Rowan answers and forces his lips against hers in a crushing kiss._

_“‘Play your cards right, Slayer, and you might find out’,” Faith growls and attacks Rowan’s mouth herself._

Faith tosses and turns in her sleep. Her hand finds its way into her panties. The dream continues almost seamlessly but the mood has changed. It’s now much darker. But since it’s a dream, it feels perfectly natural.

_“How many guys did you fuck in Sunnydale?” Rowan demands, biting her lip so hard that she can taste blood._

_“I lost count,” Faith breathes._

_“How many times did you come for them with my name on your lips?”_

_“I lost count,” Faith moans._

_“I had Buffy you know,” Rowan says with an evil grin. “She’s a real screamer and she almost cracked the headboard of her bed when I took her from behind.”_

_“I wanted her,” Faith groans as Rowan’s teeth scrape her neck. “But she never noticed.”_

_“Yet you never dared to act, regardless. All that ‘want, take, have’ talk, yet you couldn’t make yourself advance beyond the first. For me it took one night at the Bronze.”_

_“Then why does she hate you so much?” Faith asks, squirming with arousal as she can almost visualize her sister Slayer on all fours with a moan on her lips demanding Rowan to penetrate her well-trained ass and take her._

_Rowan doesn’t answer immediately. Instead he unbuttons Faith’s shirt and unclasps her bra._

_“I screamed your name when she made me come,” he says, biting down on her rock-hard nipple._

In her sleep Faith pinches her clit with her thumb and index finger as she grinds herself against the thin mattress. Her moans are stifled by her pillow.

_“When you fucked Xander, did you want it to be me?” Rowan demands, hovering over her. Faith has her ankles crossed behind his back as he drives mercilessly into her._

_“Yes,” Faith whispers._

_“When you choked him, did you want to kill me?”_

_“Yes!” Faith moans._

_“When Buffy stabbed you, did you imagine it was me penetrating you?”_

_“Yes!!!” Faith screams and comes so hard it shakes the whole cabin._

_Rowan comes and comes inside her making it feel like a firehose is inserted in her pussy. Her belly keeps on swelling, and Rowan smiles at her beatifically._

_“Our daughter, a born Slayer.”_

Faith wakes up with three of her fingers inside her. She spasms and jerks for what feels like an eternity as one of the most powerful orgasms she has ever experienced courses through her.

Afterwards she does something she has never done before. Before getting back to sleep she writes down everything she can remember of the dream.

_End Flashback_


	6. Chapter 6

Dawn was surprised but happy to see Tara waiting for her at the gate. It had been a long time since the Witch walked her home from school; she couldn’t recall a single time since they had defeated Glory. Grinning hugely, she ran to meet her and threw her arms around the Witch.

“Hi, Dawnie,” Tara greeted her warmly, returning the hug. “How was school today?”

“It was ok,” Dawn answered neutrally but there was an excited overtone in her voice. “I got an A- on my English test and Mrs Mercer really liked the history presentation me and Janice did on the Forty-Niners.”

“Sounds to me like it was better than just ok, honey,” Tara smiled and ruffled the teen’s hair affectionately.

“Is something wrong, Tara?” Dawn asked as they started walking hand-in-hand along the street away from the school. “I mean, it’s nice that you came to meet me and all, but it’s not like it’s an every-day occurrence anymore.”

“No, nothing is wrong, Dawnie,” Tara reassured the teen and gave her hand a small squeeze. “It’s about something Rowan and I have been working on. Let’s get some ice cream and I’ll tell you more.”

Rowan. The whole Key / Aurora scenario still gave Dawn the wiggins. How couldn’t it? Everyone else had memories of her and Rowan together going back to the time he came to Sunnydale; except for Rowan and herself. Then she had been told she wasn’t a human girl at all, but a concentration of mystical energy called Aurora who had long ago helped Rowan to lock the Hellmouth Seals. She had no recollection of anything like that happening – not even some weird dreams.

One day about a year ago he had just been there and everyone around them acted like they should have known each other for years, except for herself and Rowan. They had been total strangers with each other. Then Rowan had called her “Aurora” and her sister freaked. It wasn’t until later that some weird monks had confessed to creating her out of the energy that formed the Sylph called Aurora those long years ago to pre-emptively stop Glory from attempting the same. They had used Buffy’s genetic signature to really make her Buffy’s little sister. By doing that the monks had also embedded her with a small aspect of the Slayer spirit which subsequently enabled Faith to close Glory’s portal.

She had wanted to like Rowan, like _really_ like him, since... well he was sooo dreamy, but things were always more or less awkward between them. After all, she was a basically a living reminder of everything he had lost.

“This is about Faith, isn’t it?” Dawn asked Tara after they had received their ice creams.

“Yes, Dawnie,” Tara replied. “He feels guilty about failing to stop Glory and that Faith may be imprisoned in Glory’s former home.”

“There’s more to it than that, right?” Dawn mused over a large spoonful of chocolate ice cream. “He loves her, doesn’t he?”

Tara stayed silent for several seconds while enjoying the taste of pistachio ice cream in her mouth. “I don’t think there exists a word for what he feels for her.”

Dawn felt sudden tears moisten her eyes. She loved the idea of star-crossed lovers – Buffy and Angel being the prime examples, but this was different. Buffy and Angel were separated by two hours of driving and their own stubbornness, but this was just too painful to be real.

“But what can _I_ do?” Dawn asked with her eyes fixed on her ice cream. “I’m not a brilliant researcher like you and I can’t even help as a Key. There’s no way Rowan would risk the world by trying to open a portal similar to Glory’s.”

“Not similar, sweetie,” Tara said quietly making the teen raise her head to look at her in confusion. “He wants to see if the Seals can be reconfigured so that they would point to Glory’s specific domain. And this is where he asked me to come to you for help.”

The spoon fell from Dawn’s fingers to the bowl. “What?”

Tara reached out and took Dawn’s hand to her own. “Dawn, I promise you we won’t do anything to put you in danger. He simply wants me to hypnotize you to see if you can subconsciously remember anything that...”

“... that Aurora would?” Dawn finished the sentence in a tight voice.

“Yes,” Tara nodded. “We understand if you...”

“Let’s do it.”

“Dawn, I’m not sure if...”

“In fact, let’s do it now. He’s at the mansion, right?”

“Yes, but...”

“You gave me a choice, Tara. I’ve made it. Better hurry with the ice cream. I’m finished.”

* * *

Dawn was sitting on Rowan’s bed feeling nervous. In front of her Tara was sitting on a bench with a blue crystal on her palm. Rowan was standing in the doorway watching intently.

“Dawn, I want you to concentrate on the small imperfection in the centre of this crystal,” Tara was telling her in a quiet, almost droning voice. Was there really an imperfection? She tried to focus her eyes on it as Tara continued. “When I turn the crystal slowly, light reflects differently from the centre than from the rest of the crystal. I want you to keep your eyes on the centre, always on the centre.” Tara’s voice seemed to be coming from further and further away. The centre of the crystal looked like a... looked like a...

“She’s under,” Tara said quietly to Rowan. “Dawn, can you hear me?” she asked the girl who was staring back at her with unblinking eyes.

“Yes, Tara,” Dawn said in a monotone.

“Listen to me, Dawn. I want you to close your eyes and lie back on the bed. That’s right. You’re comfortable and safe. Everything is just fine.”

“You can ask her now,” Tara said to Rowan who had come to stand by the bed.

“Dawn?” Rowan asked gently. “Do you know who Aurora is?”

“You say she is me and I’m her, but I don’t know her.”

Rowan decided to try another approach. He switched to the Old Tongue, eliciting a surprised indrawn breath from Tara.

“Do you remember the Sealing, Aurora?”

Dawn continued in English. “I can’t understand you, Rowan.”

Tara and Rowan turned to look at each other. “She really doesn’t know,” Tara said quietly.

“I’m going to deep-read her,” Rowan said.

“Rowan, sweetie, no,” Tara said. “She should have a say in that, and Buffy as well.”

“Tara, she _is_ Aurora, despite her being unable to consciously or sub-consciously remember it. I already know her signature better than anyone’s, so I won’t be invading. Besides, I have already read Dawn’s surface earlier, and this will probably be the only chance I’ll likely have for a deep-read.”

“What are you hoping to accomplish?” Tara asked.

“To see if the monks made a mistake or a deliberate alteration when they incarnated her.”

“Fine,” Tara said after a few seconds of thinking. “But I’ll be side-alonging.”

“As you wish,” Rowan said and held out his hand to Tara.

Unfocusing, Rowan and Tara dived through Dawn’s “visible” aura into her core being, the focal points of what made her Dawn.

‘ _Can you see the points along her axial channel?_ ’ Tara felt Rowan’s thought in her mind.

‘ _The chakra_? _Yes,_ ’ Tara answered.

‘ _From the bottom. You lead,’_ Rowan instructed.

‘ _Muladhara, the root chakra_ ,’ Tara intoned. ‘ _In alignment._ ’

‘ _Svadhishthana, the sacral chakra,’_ she continued. _‘In alignment._ ’

‘ _Nabhi-Manipura, the navel chakra. In alignment._ ’

‘ _Anahata, the heart chakra. In alignment._ ’

‘ _Vishuddha, the throat chakra. In alignment._ ’

‘ _Ajna, the third-eye chakra. There’s something..._ ’

‘ _The centre of energy, of course,_ ’ Rowan’s triumphant thought vibrated in her core.

‘ _Sahasrara, the crown chakra. In alignment,_ ’ Tara finalized the ascend along the axis. Then she gasped in shock as Rowan extended something like a spiritual hand towards Dawn’s core being.

‘ _Rowan, what?_ ’

‘ _I’m sorry, Tara. I do what I must. Please, don’t think any less of me. I’ll let you witness this, so you’ll be able to tell everyone I acted out of love.”_ She felt Rowan’s whole being sigh.

‘ _Please, don’t,_ ’ Tara pleaded not really knowing what he was going to do.

Then Rowan did something that she was unable to comprehend. Touching Dawn’s _Ajna_ chakra with an insubstantial finger, he re-aligned it, like a slider, with the others.

* * *

_Flashback_

Faith sat on her bed and kept reading her notes over and over again. Had she been a guy, she probably would have been sporting a constant hard-on over the uninhibited erotic imagery. But, as it was, Faith was trying to find out if there was a common thread tying them together on a sub-conscious level.

The first instance was something that could have quite easily followed her attempt at seduction on their first get-together in the cabin and still have ended with her being rejected. The second one seemed to play around her desires and regrets. She hadn’t fucked all that many guys in Sunnydale and none of them had been more than posts to scratch her itch against. She didn’t know if Buffy and Rowan had ever actually got pelvic, but it was obvious that she had wanted to sabotage that. Sabotage whose chances? She couldn’t say.

The third instance. Confessional and absolution? She had confessed to her sins, three times. And the absolution? A new life inside her to atone for the ones she had taken. But how could it be? She didn’t even know if she could get pregnant. She never had, despite the lack of protection every now and then. And then the knife in her belly. It could have damaged her reproductive organs. Finally, Rowan. As far as she knew, they were genetically incompatible. She had never thought she even wanted children but the two words “our daughter” made her regret every choice she had ever made that could jeopardize that from happening.

She had also mourned Joyce, the woman who had treated her almost like a third daughter. It was only her own insecurities that had prevented her from considering Joyce as a surrogate mother. She had had a feeling that Joyce was very close to inviting her to live with the Summers’ while she was still lodging at the motel. Then Gwen had gotten her the apartment and the issue never came up. She still didn’t know what she would have said and done if Joyce had made the offer.

Then there was the cryptic message Rowan had supposedly relayed from Dawn. Like said, she had never stayed long enough with the Summers’ for her to have a room of her own. Besides, Dawn had definitely not invaded the room she was staying in over the Christmas and most definitely not while she was...

Was it too obvious or too subtle? Rowan had been discussing the key Glory was intent on finding and then he had mentioned Dawn and lockpicking in the same sentence. It was also quite obvious, to her, that it was Rowan who kept the Key hidden. Did he suspect Glory was monitoring them constantly, their private discussions? Or maybe she had some not-too-bright minions for those kinds of menial tasks. They wouldn’t know that Faith hadn’t actually lived with the Summers’.

So, the Squirt had to be the Key. But how could that be? She remembered the annoying little brat who had followed her and Buffy around. She remembered how irritating it had been that Dawn considered her the epitome of coolness and tried to imitate her in all ways possible... until Joyce had made Dawn stop and change clothes.

And Rowan had trusted her with this info. She had pretty much made it clear that she couldn’t be trusted with a bucket of water if his pants were on fire. But he had trusted her; for the second time he had trusted her with a life-altering secret.

She couldn’t understand why.

She was a broke and broken gal from Southie, and he was... what in comparison? A fucking elf prince! Thinking about his further, she briefly wondered if Aragorn hadn’t secretly thought, deep down, the same about Arwen. And regarding Tolkien. Had the professor been privy to some inside info or what? In this world they had... whatever it was that Rowan was, humans and demons/vampires. Compare that with Middle-Earth which had elves, humans and orcs. The similarities were striking.

She would have been able to understand if Rowan was obsessed about her, like stalker-obsessed. She would have been able to understand if he lusted after her; most guys did. But a single forceful shove had shredded these theories. Was it possible that Rowan actually _l-liked_ her – could see something in her that others couldn’t? She knew she was hot as hell and sexy to boot as well. But his interest in her definitely wasn’t just to get her legs spread as soon as possible.

Could it be that she actually liked him back? It was hard to just _like_ someone like Rowan; just as it was hard to just like someone like Faith. Both of them had that something that made them stand out. Ok, Buffy and Cordelia were probably on par with her as attractiveness was considered but no-one could dominate the dance floor like her. And when Rowan was in a room, the other males there with him just naturally seemed to fade a little into the background.

The big ‘L’ was an incomprehensible concept to Faith but the thought of not seeing Rowan ever again made a cold shiver run down her spine.

There was another concept that Faith hadn’t taken into account; the big ‘T’. It didn’t occur to her that Rowan regarded time very differently than she did.

_End Flashback_


	7. Chapter 7

“Dear Goddess, what did you do?” Tara asked in dismay as she came back to herself.

“Shhh, Tara. Wait and see,” Rowan said quietly.

After a minute Dawn started to twitch on the bed and then, like in the old Dracula movies, she went from prone to sitting position without seeming to have required any effort.

“Aurora, can you hear me?” Rowan asked in the Old Tongue.

“Yes, Rowan,” Dawn/Aurora answered. “Did we do it? The Seals are secure, and we are both here?”

“The Seals are secure, and we are both here,” Rowan answered thickly but his smile was something that brought tears to Tara’s eyes despite the seriousness of the situation. “But it’s been a long time. We have both slept and the world changed on us.”

“I can see/hear/taste/smell/feel. I’m me, I’m Dawn. I have always been with you as I have always been Buffy’s sister. I/me/myself are us, as I was meant to be.”

Aurora turned her blue eyes to Tara and spoke in English. “I’m still Dawn, Tara; I remember the ice creams, the movies, the times you braided my hair. But I’m Aurora as well. I was Rowan’s companion for a long time and then I slept. I woke up in my bed when Mom came to wake me up for school. Buffy is my annoying big sister and you I love like another. I know Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles, Gwen, Angel and Faith. I have known Rowan all my life and now I know how he came to be here.”

Before Tara could react to this, Dawn was in her arms hugging her tightly and crying tears of joy against her shoulder.

After a minute they heard Rowan clear his throat. “I have only waited 27 millennia, so no hurry.”

“And you’ll be patient for a few more minutes, Rowan,” Aurora told him in a no-nonsense voice. “Sisters first.”

“Only a few minutes and I already wish I hadn’t gone through all the trouble,” Rowan muttered under his breath but loudly enough for both girls to hear him.

Tara couldn’t believe her ears, but Aurora let out a vibrant laugh that was totally different from anything she had heard from Dawn.

“You think so? Wait until they realize I have enough juicy stories about you and Aryane to fill a library.”

“Tara! You and me; unfocus now! We’re going in.” Rowan dead-panned.

This time Aurora’s laughter was echoed by Tara and Rowan’s. Then Aurora went silent and stood up to face Rowan. She gave Tara a brief glance. “Tara, I’m sorry but this needs to be said in...”

Tara understood and nodded.

Aurora took Rowan’s hands in her own. “My love, my brother. We parted only what feels like a few turns of the seasons ago, but it’s really been a lifetime. I know who your heart belongs to, now, but, now and forever, we’ll be together.”

“Little Star of the Morning. You always knew me better than I did myself. Whatever happens, you’ll not be eclipsed by her in the slightest.”

“I know. Now it’s time for me also to live. I will help you with the Seals and then Buffy is in for the surprise of a lifetime.”

“The Powers save me from devious Sylphs,” Rowan sighed, switching back to English.

“Nuh-uh. A human with access to the physical world, darling. And don’t you forget about that,” Aurora said in mock seriousness and smacked Rowan’s butt, hard.

* * *

The ruins of Sunnydale High School were isolated behind a tall barb-wire-topped fence. There was a single gate allowing access to the area, but it was closed with a heavy pad-lock. Before Tara had time to even think of a suitable opening spell, Aurora had taken the heavy lock in her hands. She tugged it lightly and it became loose.

“Da... Aurora, what?” Tara breathed as Aurora slid the shackle out of the opening.

“Key, see?” Aurora winked at Tara.

“You mean...?”

“I think so. I sort of know that I can open any mechanical or magical lock in the world just by wanting it to happen.. Electronic locks? I think I’ll need to work on that.”

“Aurora, the ultimate thief,” Rowan sighed. “Tell me again, Tara; why did we let her loose?”

Tara chuckled. “Well, first of all, you love her.”

“Well, that goes without saying. But apart from that, why did we let her loose?”

“Monty Python, much?” Aurora chuckled.

“Monty who?” Tara asked in bafflement.

“Tara, Tara,” Aurora laughed. “If you’ve never heard of them, you’re in for the treat of a lifetime. We’ll camp in with Giles and have ourselves a Monty Python marathon.”

Tara couldn’t help but laugh herself; Aurora’s obvious delight was so infectious. She had rarely heard Dawn laugh but now it seemed as if she had discovered a piece of herself that had been missing and was just glad to be... herself.

* * *

The Seal of Fire was impressive, both physically and metaphysically. Tara could almost visualize the power contained within that made the silver disc hum with tension. She could also feel the tendrils that connected it to its siblings in Ohio, Austria, Russia and New Zealand.

Immediately after they had lowered themselves to the cavern which housed the Seal, Aurora had squealed in delight and thrown herself on the Silvery disc. She kept kissing the Seal every now and then all the while murmuring loving words to it; words Tara couldn’t understand.

“She’ll be alright in a few moments,” Rowan smiled at Tara’s raised eyebrow. “The Seals were Aryane’s masterpiece, but they really do belong to Aurora. We made it so that only she can interact with them. And when I commanded her to lock them, the code word forced her to disperse in order to protect them. I have no idea how the monks managed to get around that.”

“Love,” Aurora said while lying spread-eagled on top of the Seal. “You left a sub-conscious loophole.”

“I guess I did,” Rowan chuckled. “Which is just as well. There’s no way Glory could have tapped in to that.”

“I left one for you as well, you know.”

“You did what?”

“Left a back door for you, Rowan darling. I made a last-minute adjustment when we were escaping. I was so afraid you would be left behind. Only you can open them from the inside and only for those you wish to accompany you. From this side, only me.”

“That was foolish, Aurora. They could have forced me to open it for them.”

“Wouldn’t have wo-orked,” Aurora sing-songed. “It’s tied to intent.”

“You were never this devious back then,” Rowan pouted.

“Oh, but I was, darling. But I only let you catch me now.”

“If you two were like this back then, how did you ever manage to get anything serious done,” Tara asked with a resigned sigh.

Aurora flipped herself agilely back to her feet and took Rowan’s hand. “Mostly, time was not an issue with us, Tara,” she said in a low voice.

 _Time_ , of course. Aurora as a Sylph and Rowan as a descendant of the Old Ones. Both were...

“Aurora? Are you still, you know...?”

“I don’t know and that makes it all so exciting!” Aurora said brightly almost bouncing up and down. “But now I think it’s time I called my baby to heel to let Rowan pass.”

* * *

_Flashback_

Faith was sitting on the floor of the hallway, pressing the phone almost painfully against her ear. Anger and frustration boiled in her as she listened to Rowan’s description of recent events.

“ _So, Glory now has Dawn. The ritual to open the portal will most likely take place two days from now on the Winter Solstice, but we have no idea where._ ”

“What are you going to do now?” Faith asked quietly.

“ _Dawn will be safe until Glory needs her for the ritual. The Scoobies are scouring Sunnydale for Glory’s hideout and I’m helping them as much as I can. I’ve been... interrogating various demons I’ve come across regarding Glory but is seems that, as Hell Gods go, she is not of the type to reveal her plans to those she considers inferiors_.”

“Two days, you say? And then all this will just... cease to be?” Faith asked emotionlessly. ‘ _What about you?_ ’ she wanted to ask. ‘ _Will you be able to survive it? Maybe make it to... some other dimension. Carry with you the memory and knowledge that we once existed._ ’

“ _That’s the most likely scenario if we fail to stop Glory._ ”

Faith stayed silent for a full minute.

“There must be something I...,” she started.

“ _Faith! I absolutely forbid you to do anything rash,_ ” Rowan interrupted her harshly.

“You... forbid?” Faith asked slowly and clearly.

“ _Yes, I do,_ ” Rowan said, dropping each syllable in place like a stone.

Faith sprang to her feet. “You know, fuck you! I don’t take orders from you. And I’ll take that ‘fuck you’ back. That would be too good for you. I’ll reserve fucking for real men, like Xander,” she almost screamed the last sentence to the phone and slammed it forcefully back to the cradle.

‘ _Forbidding me, are you?_ ’ Faith seethed and crouched down to open the laces of her sneakers. Then she walked purposefully to the stairs and threw herself down.

* * *

When Faith regained consciousness, she found herself in the infirmary. Her left ankle was bandaged and, after having raised her hand to her temple, noticed that her head had received similar treatment. Her movement brought the duty nurse to her bedside.

“Easy. You’ve had a severe concussion. You’ll be alright, though. Do you remember what happened?”

“I... was on the phone,” Faith said looking around the ward. She seemed to be the only patient there at the moment. Besides herself, there was only the nurse and a guard present.

“You fell down some stairs. Your shoelaces had become untied and you probably tripped on them.”

“How long was I out of the game?” Faith asked.

“Three hours; it’s almost 9pm,” the nurse said, checking her watch. “You’ll spend the night here and tomorrow morning we’ll see about discharging you.”

“I think you’re right,” Faith said and grimaced. “I still feel a bit dizzy.”

“No surprise there. From what I heard it was a pretty nasty fall. You’re lucky you didn’t break any bones. Do you feel nauseous or do you think your stomach could withstand a light, late snack?”

“Sure. I am pretty hungry,” Faith said brightly.

* * *

An hour later Faith was alone in the now dark infirmary. It being December, the large hexagonal pagoda-like skylight which dominated the ceiling was a black patch against the otherwise white overhead surface. Quietly slipping out of bed, she picked up her sneakers from the floor and made her way to the janitor’s closet next to the exit. The door to the closet was locked but it yielded easily to her Slayer strength. Inside she discarded her dark-blue jumpsuit, leaving only her panties and tee-shirt on, before putting on faded, lighter blue overalls she found hanging in the closet. With her sneakers back on, she exited the closet. Her Slayer healing had already taken care of the bruising in her ankle and the back of her head, so she discarded the bandages to a bin.

The windows of the skylight, a small tower-like structure rising through the ceiling some 12 feet above floor level, were protected all around with what looked like 6” x 6”, 10-gauge wire-mesh. Looking at it speculatively for a few seconds, Faith leaped up and caught the bottom wire with both hands. Pulling herself up so that she could stand on the wire, she started circling sideways around the mesh to look for a weak welding or a rusty joint. Half-way around she noticed to her surprise that one half of a mesh panel was actually a door with hinges. It was fastened with a padlock, _which hadn’t been locked_.

Raising her eyes briefly heavenwards, Faith carefully pulled the heavy lock out of the opening and slipped through the door. Between the mesh and the windows there was maybe a two-feet-wide space with a sill that she could stand on; perhaps meant for maintenance staff and for window cleaning. She closed the wire door behind her and put the lock back in place before focusing her attention on the skylight windows.

The sill was dusty but to her relief her footsteps were not the only ones circling the sill. Someone or someones had been there no more than maybe a month ago. All the skylight windows were closed, naturally, and covered with remotely-controlled venetian blinds. They also appeared to be locked – no surprise there either. She decided to give the frame of each a tap anyway before falling back to the final solution of just smashing one of the panes to pieces. Her luck did seem to hold as one of the frames squeaked under her palm. It appeared to be just stuck instead of locked. A more forceful shove with her palm popped the large window open giving Faith access to the roof of the infirmary.

“If we survive this, I’m gonna break your ribs one-by-one,” Faith muttered as she stepped through the window, closing it behind her. “Then I’m gonna go mediaeval on your kneecaps with a baseball bat...”

_End Flashback_


	8. Chapter 8

“You were right, Rowan,” Aurora said as they concentrated on the Seal, hand in hand. “They picked up the resonance from Glory’s portal. We can use it to change the harmonics so that it will open to her dimension.”

“How are you going to do it without leaving the Hellmouth unguarded?” Tara asked worriedly.

“I won’t leave it pointing away for very long,” Aurora explained. “Half-a-minute or so for Rowan to pass and then, automatically, for a minute or so daily until they have returned. After that, I will fix it once again and clean up the residue from the portal.”

“Is there a risk that this will be noticed... on the other side?” Tara asked.

“Minimal,” Aurora assured the Witch. “Someone would have to be actively monitoring it – constantly. The Seals have been in place for a very long time. A minute’s blip is less than the blink of an eye.”

Rowan let go of Aurora’s hand and turned to face Tara.

“Tara, I love you like a sister,” he said looking into the concerned blue eyes. “I have no regrets knowing that you’ll be there for my other sister.”

“Goddess keep you, brother,” Tara said thickly throwing her arms around Rowan.

As the Seal’s glow intensified suddenly, Rowan turned to Aurora.

“Love you, sis,” he said impishly.

“Oh, go on already,” Aurora sighed and rolled her eyes. “And bring back my sister-in-law in one piece.”

“Your...?”

Aurora jumped to Rowan’s arms and circled her legs around his waist. She gave him a sweet, sisterly kiss and then dropped back to her feet.

“You heard me. Now, move your ass before I kick it.”

Rowan stepped on the Seal. “‘A stranger I arrived here, a stranger I go hence.’,” he muttered.

There was a blinding brightness and then there it was dark.

* * *

_Flashback_

Rowan had been following the brown-robed, gnome-faced guy for twenty minutes and now he knew that the minion was heading for the industrial district; obviously to Willy’s. He slowed his step and hung back some more to see if more of the little critters were about to congregate before heading for the bar.

The minion appeared to be alone but maybe 15 seconds after he had disappeared through the front door, Rowan saw a dark-clad figure sprinting with inhuman speed towards the bar. Cursing under his breath, Rowan started running himself.

Bursting through the bar door Rowan saw Buffy beating Glory’s minion to a pulp against the bar while screaming questions at him.

“WHERE’S GLORY!!? WHERE’S SHE TAKEN MY SISTER!!?”

Rowan rushed in and grabbed Buffy’s hand mid-strike. “Buffy, that’s enough!” he shouted.

Without missing a beat, Buffy reversed the motion of her arm and back-handed Rowan heavily in the face. He staggered backwards with the taste of blood in his mouth grimacing with the sudden pain. When his vision cleared, he saw Buffy looking back at him aghast.

“Oh my God, Rowan. I’m sorry,” Buffy said in horror with her hand over her mouth. Her other hand was still gripping the robe of the nearly unconscious minion of Glory’s.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rowan said evenly wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Rowan...”

“I said, don’t worry about it, Buffy. Don’t you have some information-gathering to do? In a way that leaves room for actual answers.”

He turned around to face the other clientele. “Unless you have information on Glory to share with us, this doesn’t concern any of you.”

He had a certain reputation in the lower echelons of Sunnydale’s non-human population, and no-one rose to challenge him. He had gotten used to the mix of hatred/fear/anger/jealousy the half-breed demon population directed at him for what he represented. He still came to Willy’s every now and then to catch the latest underworld news and usually didn’t pay any attention to his fellow patrons. Willy’s was, for most of the time, neutral ground by unspoken agreement. Of course, Slayers rarely adhered to agreements like this.

Willy was always glad to see him there; his presence kept the overall atmosphere more or less civil. He rarely had to pay for his own drinks at Willy’s.

* * *

“LaMorte,” Buffy said quietly. “I have heard of the place. It’s a ghost town a few hours from Sunnydale. And it’s going to happen tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Rowan said and crouched down in front of the minion who had slumped to the floor. He drew his trusty Spirit Blade from its sheath behind his back and, with great precision, cut the critter’s throat from ear to ear.

When he stood back up and started to wipe the knife clean on a napkin, Buffy was gawking at him with eyes wide with shock.

“You... you just killed him!”

“That’s right. He told us everything he knew. They may have ways to communicate with Glory from a distance so I couldn’t risk her knowing we know. I’m counting on him having been unable to do so while you were keeping him... busy.”

“Listen, I...” Buffy started avoiding eye contact with Rowan.

“Not now, Buffy,” Rowan interrupted her. “I’m going to stop by the mansion to pick up my sword. I’ll meet you later at Rupert’s.”

With that Rowan was gone and the atmosphere at Willy’s picked up tension again with an angry-looking Slayer standing alone in the middle of the floor.

“Enjoy your drinks,” Buffy said loudly and marched to the door. “This might be the last time you can.”

* * *

Crouching down, Faith made her way over the rooftop to where she knew the loading bridge was. She could hear from a distance that a truck was in there, idling. She crawled the last few yards on her belly and carefully looked over the edge of the roof. Two maintenance staff members were unloading the truck, neither of them seeming to be in a hurry to get the job done.

The ten minutes it took for them to get the truck unloaded were perhaps the longest in Faith’s life. Every second she expected her escape to be noticed and the sirens start blaring. Her stomach constricted painfully, and, to her ears, her heart beat so loudly that it was a surprise that the two men below couldn’t hear it right away.

When the two men were apparently finished, one of them went inside and Faith could hear the electric hum of the loading bridge door being operated. The other went to talk to the driver which was the cue for Faith to drop down behind the car and hide inside the empty cargo compartment. A minute later the truck started moving with the untied canvas flaps fluttering over the tailgate. It was obvious they had been left open on purpose so that the guards at the gate wouldn’t have to open them again.

Faith looked quickly around the compartment when the truck braked at the gates. This was her only chance to get out without having to resort to violence. Standing just inside the tailgate she jumped up and gripped the lengthwise support beam which held the canvas in shape in the middle. Swinging herself back and forth a few times, she pinned herself horizontally between the middle and side bars with her toes against the side bar and her hands still gripping the middle bar.

From the sounds coming from outside she could imagine the driver being told to vacate the cabin for inspection. Sounds of footsteps and flashes of light from around the truck told her that the chassis of the truck was being inspected from below. She knew that the prison didn’t have dogs for jobs like this or she wouldn’t even have considered this as a viable way for escaping. Then the back flap was pulled aside and a flashlight beam illuminated the empty floor and the insides of the canvas walls of the compartment. Faith held her breath as she felt a single drop of sweat making its way to the tip of her nose. ‘ _Please, please, please,_ ’ she prayed squeezing her eyes shut. Then she heard the canvas being closed and fastened to the tailgate. Miraculously the drop of sweat stayed suspended from her nose. ‘ _For want of a nail, a kingdom was lost_ ,’ Faith quoted in her mind. ‘ _But not for a drop of sweat._ ’

She lowered herself carefully down. She knew the truck would drive all the way to L.A. and she would have to jump off before it made it to the highway.

So, she sat down on the truck bed and waited.

_End Flashback_


End file.
